Data centers in Europe are facing serious challenges due to high water and energy consumption. While many people want to use the services of these centers, few are willing to have them located near their homes. With increasing concerns about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, local discussions are also forming to determine where these centers should be built.
Environmental Impacts and Resource Consumption
Governments and companies in Europe have decided to store data on the continent instead of transferring it to the United States, which is a leader in computing. However, increasing digital self-sufficiency in Europe means greater consumption of the continent's natural resources. According to a report from the German Ministry of Economics, an average of 0.4 to 4.4 liters of water is used for cooling data centers for every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed.
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This past summer was the hottest recorded in Europe, and in some areas, water use for agriculture and even nuclear power plants was restricted. With expectations of rising temperatures in future summers, concerns about the water consumption of data centers are also increasing. Additionally, high electricity consumption is a worrying issue. Fingrid, the national grid operator in Finland, has predicted that electricity consumption could increase by nearly 40% if all contracted connection projects are implemented.
New Plans and Local Protests
This week, the European Commission announced a new plan for data centers aimed at increasing transparency regarding their energy and water consumption. Centers with a capacity of over 500 kilowatts will receive an efficiency score that will consider their consumption as well as their impact on the grid. Teresa Ribera, the European Commission's Executive Vice President, stated, "Increasing the capacity of data centers should not mean increasing pressure on the grids, water resources, and energy bills."
Large data centers have been built near major cities like Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin, as these areas have advantages in terms of connectivity, proximity to users, and secure supply chains. However, according to a report from investment group CBRE, this situation is changing, and new data centers are being constructed in cities like Groningen in the Netherlands, Barcelona in Spain, and Brussels in Belgium, with new centers also emerging in rural areas.
In this context, more protests are taking place. Earlier this month, hundreds gathered in front of Google's offices in the small town of Kronstorf, Austria, to protest the company's plans to build a data center there. Additionally, bestselling Irish author Sally Rooney successfully canceled a permit for a data center in the village of Killa, stating that the project contradicts national climate policies.
In France, several elected officials in the village of Etrach have resigned due to Google's plans to build a massive data center. This center, when reaching full capacity, will require between 880 megawatts to 1.1 gigawatts of electricity, equivalent to the total output of a nuclear power plant. Florence Laurent, the mayor of Etrach, stated that she resigned due to a "sense of powerlessness" as the village has no decision-making power regarding this project.
Some data center operators believe that these facilities can be built in ways that save more energy. A large data center under construction in Marseille is reported to use a cooling system that consumes 30% less electricity and requires no water. Additionally, data centers in Scandinavia utilize the excess heat from their servers and transfer it to urban heating networks.
These updates and changes in the pattern of data center construction in Europe are in response to the need for digital self-sufficiency and energy independence on the continent. However, environmental and resource challenges will remain important issues for governments and citizens.
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